Miracles in Blue
by twinlyDementious
Summary: AU-Where Trolls from Alternia invade Earth, successfully enslaving the humans. John is one of the lucky few who is kept alive to train as slaves to a Caste that will someday buy them. Being too young has kept him safe, until he finds himself not as lucky as he had once believed. Of gold cities, of waking up, of familiarity, &of secrets waiting to be revealed. A journey awaits here.
1. Ch1 - Unlucky Day

A/N: First AU (Alternate Universe) Homestuck Fanfic :D I know, I know... The shipping might be really strange, but I tried to include more than you think is simply in here. Yes, this is a Clownshipping Fanfic. As crack as that may seem, give it a chance, okay? And don't worry, I love JohnKat, so there MUST be some in here. Maybe a Quadrant all to themselves? Hehe. Please, give this fic a chance! GamJohn won't be happening for a while... This is gonna be a really long Fanfic, hehe! 3

Before you ask, NO. This is not going to include any DaveJohn. I'm sorry, but they are best friends (Moirails) and forever will be in my book. What is up with "Best friends HAVE to be together." Sorry, I think just friends are awesome xD But it's just my opinion and I'm not dissing on your shipping. I just don't wanna pair two best friends together... Yes, there is going to be some Kanaya and Rose shipping (OTP!). Tentabulges, yes. Gore, chucklevoodoos that freak you out, and some more that I'm too lazy to include here. Just know it's MATURE for a reason, dammit. Flamers shall be forced into joining the Gay Parade. Got to show their pride, you know? Denial shall not be allowed here in my Fanfic! Now read on!

**Pairings have Quadrants, FYI. Yeah, remember those things?  
(Tentabulges are Canon in here.)**

**Matesprit - Kanaya x Rose is OTP Shipping in here.  
Matesprit - Gamzee x John is OTP Shipping in here.**

**Moirail – Dave x John is Shipped in here as this ONLY.**

**Kismesis - Karkat x John is OTP Shipping in here.  
Kismesis - Sollux x Eridan is OTP Shipping in here.**

Will take suggestions for other Pairings and Quadrants! :3

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"Miracles In Blue"

W_ritten by twinlyDementious_

Chapter 1:  
Unlucky Day of Every Year

John Egbert often thought he was one of the lucky ones. After all, he was still alive - unlike most of his kind. The invasion of trolls into his planet had been unexpected and there had been no way to defy them without the threat of being killed. His father had been one of the many that had fallen to their deaths - their defiance too much to be overlooked. John could only say that it was because of his age that he was allowed to live. He had been too young to defy them; too naive to understand his position.

From a very young age, he had been brought up and forced into the training on how to become a proper servant. He hadn't chosen this. Just like everything in his life, there was never a choice. All he could do was keep an optimistic thought to his situation. He was lucky, after all. Still alive, unlike his father whose last memory was a haze of endless red and pain. But still that darkness hovered at the back of his mind, whispering words that he often times struggled to ignore. Things could be worse, after all. He could become a servant to the High-bloods, as small of a chance as that may be.

Every day was the same, though there were times when it was filled with excitement from the Slave-Handlers who arrived for the next batch of 'ready' slaves. The scent of frightened slaves who were being yanked from line and into cages filled them with too much blood-lust. There had been those unfortunate moments with slaves that had taken the brunt of such blood-lust and was tragically, and often painfully, killed. John was one of the rare and lucky few that had yet to be taken; their ages deemed not yet appropriate and up to standards for being owned by any of the Troll's Castes. John was lucky and for that he was grateful. Though he often wished he could have been lucky enough to avoid the sight of death and the sound it brought.

Today was one of those days to be on your toes and your body braced for anything that may come. On the third week of every month the Handlers came for the slaves, whether you were ready or not. It just so dreadfully happened to be that of all days it could have been on, John had the unlucky chance of it being today. Of course, it was to be expected for him to have these rare bouts of no luck at all on this very day of every year. It would probably be even more difficult to keep track of the day once he was taken to Alternia when it was his time. Then he would have to follow their Calendar, which frustrated him to no end. He didn't even want to think about it.

"John! Hellooo, Earth to John! Haven't you heard the news yet? Johnnn!" The high-pitched voice brought him back to the present, where he had been before he had lost himself in his thoughts. It wasn't the first time and he had been warned of the consequences should he be caught so unaware, but John couldn't help but want to escape life every now and then. He often got lost in the strange castle made of lifeless gold and the sky that was filled with nightmarish clouds. His dreams haunted him even while he was awake.

"John! I have some news for you! Better stop the daydreaming now before it's too late, you know! 'Cause once you hear the news, you're gonna wish you had your mommy to hold you at night!" The malevolent grin of the girl who John knew to be his recurrent tormentor was shoved into his face. She was so close that he could see the light specks in her normally dark and gray eyes. She was cruel and it was a trait shared by most slaves here in training. Being a slave meant that you would never be allowed Quadrants of any kind. It was lonely.

"Ughh! Pay attention for once!" A snap of fingers in the face brought John back to the common weariness and irritation she often showed towards him. After all this time, he still didn't know her name. His ignorance in such knowledge brought her amusement, as if it were a game she played. Her constant weariness soon accompanied a pleased look in his direction. That was never a good sign in his book.

"There's no need for such a look, John." She fluttered her fingers and wiggled her eyebrows at him as if it might entice him - they both knew it wouldn't. Such an act would have received a slash in the face, no matter if Quadrants had nothing to do with it. It was strictly forbidden between Humans. The consequences were too severe for anyone other than this arrogant girl to just up and forget. Or in her case, ignore.

His grip on the scrubbing brush tightened and shook in an effort to keep himself calm as he stood from the floor to gain some much-needed height. A couple of the slaves that had been accompanying him in the chore all stopped to watch with barely-concealed horror. A few of their eyes screamed at him to stop. Any other day, they begged him. The ones who weren't made for such a disgraceful act of pleading, all looked at him with threat in their eyes if he didn't stop his stupidity and get back to work.

He licked his lips and braced himself for some courage.

"Well." His words shook slightly as he spoke, but he just wanted her to leave. He took another deep breathe, "I'm waiting to hear your news. We're busy here, in case you forgot what today was. This isn't the time to be-"

She interrupted him with her high-pitched obnoxious giggles and gave him a sinister look of ill-conceived enjoyment, "I didn't forget. How could I with my news?" She wiggled her fingers at him again, her cracked and pale-colored lips moving mockingly slow to overly-exaggerate and pronounce each word needlessly, "Wouldn't you like to know?"

She was mocking him for his ignorance as if it were a game. Except this time, it was a game that no one but her had the time for. She slacked-off as everyone worked. Acting much like a cruel Queen among slaves as if this was her own Caste. John just happened to be the lowest in her eyes. She had told him once of her hatred for his blue-colored eyes, how blue they looked and how it reminded her of the "blue bloods". His eyes were "too Indigo-colored for her liking". She may have seemed secretive about it, but all the slaves knew of her desire to be a Troll of very high Caste.

"Hurry up and tell him then! We're not here to be punished for you distracting us from our work!" A female slave with black hair and the greenest of eyes had stood with a fierce look on her face. Unlike John, she held no brush in her hands and she shook not with nervousness but with anger. She was pale-faced, but her lips were flushed prettily with pink and her face showed more youth than most of the slaves with their broken down faces. Her hair was cut with bangs that framed her face like a halo and left the rest to flow like a cascade of silk along her back. For a slave, she appeared more lively and healthy than most would.

There was another giggle, though it sounded different from the ones before. There was such an obvious edge to it that anyone who listened could hear the sharpness. Turning to look made him want to turn and run. The girl's pale face had twisted into an ugly grimace, her mud-colored hair that was deemed too light for her standards was cropped short and clung to her sweat and dirt covered face. Pale and rusted over rags draped over her figure with holes here and there. Bare feet covered in something even more filthy than her body left newly-stains on the recently clean floor as she threw her body forward in a rage.

"Shut your filthy mouth, wench." The words were hissed like a venomous snake about to strike. Filled with so much poison that it made everyone shiver, especially John seeing as he was the closest. There was something animalistic in her expression, in the eyes that stared at the green-eyed girl who stood tall in her garments that were much cleaner than the girl who spat at her. In this form of her that was so rare to be seen, she had bared her rotten teeth as if she had thought of them as threatening as they looked disgusting to anyone who looked. She held herself like a Troll, but she appeared nothing short of a delusional and psychopathic mad woman. She was no longer being playful, her mind too lost for her to act as flirtatious as she had been before.

John felt he should interrupt before things got out of hand, the girl that stood at the other end of the barely lit and slowly darkening hallway from them looked as if she was ready for a fight to the death. John didn't know how he knew, but there was something in her eyes that spoke to him. Something that called to him as she looked at him with a face that held a strange warmth and familiarity. She was protecting him as much as she was defending herself. She reminded him of his dream world but she was so much more brighter than the gold that seemed to pale like ash in comparison.

Like a breeze that left as fast as it came, John could swear that he had heard her voice telling him to wake up. "_Wake up, John! Please, wake up!" _But all he could do was blink and wonder at the strangeness of his thoughts, he was already awake and he had no need to be distracting himself right now. With a shake of the head, he turned back and asked the filthy girl what she had originally came to hear. Before he had even opened his mouth, she was turning to look at him with such a look of sudden and inexplicable calm that John found himself terrified to even ask.

She smiled down at his short-figure with her thin lips pressed tightly together. Her glazed eyes were heavily-lidded and her cheeks were hollow from the mouth that twisted it. She looked as if she were the walking-dead and there was an unfading spark of hunger that was raging like a fire in those otherwise tired-looking eyes. This whole exchange that they were having with this crazed girl who had long before tormented him, was now terrifying him more than he had ever thought possible. It made him wonder on what had finally made her snap.

As the sound of heavy boots came thundering into the empty hallway adorned with lanterns and its long high-arched ceiling, the sudden silence that had been hanging eerily from the words that drove fear into the heart of John Egbert and those that surrounded him was interrupted. There was a rushed cry from all but those that stood still from the news that had finally been spoken. Lips shook as one erupted into a laughter that was cut off from a blow to the head and the other in a soundless cry as he finally realized how unlucky he truly was. Green-eyes filled with fear as unseen tears ran down her face hidden behind the darkness of her hair.

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING JUST STANDING THERE! YOU USELESS SLAVES! GET BACK TO WORK!" The two male Trolls clad in a lighter shade of blue that showed their Caste as being of Cerulean Blood stood at a dominating height over the slaves before them. The Troll tallest of the two had been the one who had yelled, his screaming accompanied with the slashing movements of his weapon. The red liquid that drenched the single rod of thick and heavy black metal was splashing red droplets all along the floor and the walls as it was swung repeatedly in a fist that flexed as he heaved the weapon in threat with his words.

The floor in front of him was stained with that same red that was now flooding around his feet like water. He said nothing as the slaves rushed around him to clean up the mess that was left behind from the departing Trolls, their laughter now ringing like a pitch of endless buzzing in his ears from the shock. The red dripped as the Troll swung it lazily at his side, the calm could now be seen in his shoulders and arms. John saw this, but he also saw the gaping hole and crushed face from the girl who had spoken her final words. Mockingly they echoed in his ears as if she had died playing that game she had so loved to play.

"_Don't you know who you belong to? You should know, you belong as a whore to The Grand Highblood now after all."_

Her eyes and lips were frozen in an expression of maddening delight. But deep down, John could see the envy inside her eyes. John paused to pick up the paper she had dropped, the proof to who had bought him was printed like a receipt on a small piece of paper. Like a contract to a demon, his name along with his day of birth was printed clearly with the title of the Troll who had purchased him. She had been speaking the truth.

His hands shook as he stared with a blank look to his eyes, his mind thinking only one thought. On the 13th day of April of every year, he was always unlucky. The feeling that had been persisting throughout the day was now at the front of his mind with understanding. This was worse than he could have ever imagined before.

_Happy Birthday, John._

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Note: I don't know all the names to the Ancestors, so I'm just going to use Post-Scratch names for the Trolls here. It's AU, I can work with it. Hehe.  
_  
_Now Read and Review, please!


	2. Ch2 - An Unlikely Alliance

A/N: Warnings are in first chapter, which you should have read before you moved on to this one, therefore you should already know what to expect~

Moving on!

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Miracles in Blue

Chapter 2:  
An Unlikely Alliance

The incident from earlier had been laid to rest once the body and the blood-stained floors had been washed-up to clean perfection. It was a normal occurence otherwise and no time could be spent thinking of some dead slave over the work that had to be done. They were all rushing to finish before the deadline of late evening, which would be when the Slave-Handling Trolls came for all the fresh meat.

All the slaves were running about trying to get things done; some on their knees scrubbing the floors while others were standing on their tippy-toes trying to scrub away spider-webs from the high ceilings. Feet that were clad in temporary shoes made of cloth left a soft rustling sound as they passed by the huddled form of John. No one dared to bother him, many not having the time and also because there was no need to get involved with such a 'threat'. Associating with slaves owned by a Higher Caste than their own was just asking for trouble, after all.

John's own feet were still bare since his job didn't involve working around the areas where he would be needing them. Human Slaves weren't allowed shoes at all except for the annual monthly cleaning that had to be rushed with their day-light time limit; winter time just meant that it was less time they had. The shoes being used now would be thrown out by tomorrow and then needing to be replaced before the next month's set date. It wasn't that the material itself was hard to come by, rather it was just difficult to make so many clean shoes when everything else was so dirty. Not to mention the lack of time on top of all the daily chores given.

It was difficult thinking of how he was so used to everything here in the Training Facility, almost as if he were comfortable with it and could almost call it home. The thought of leaving made his head spin, if only because he didn't know much of anything outside these stone walls. Everything he did know was already being thought over and second-guessed as he sat around drowning in his anxiety. All this time he had been expecting some lower Caste to buy him - that was what he had hoped for, at least. To be owned not just by a higher Caste but by The Grand Highblood himself was just too much for his mind to wrap around.

It was just how his luck happened to work. John supposed he should have expected something like this to happen on his birthday, the unluckiest day of every damn year. The gray clothes that he wore began to wrinkle as his arms tightened from their place wrapped around his knees. The common uniform of long sleeves and pants that hung loose in some parts and tight in others made him wonder on what he would wear once he arrived in Alternia. Dark eyebrows furrowed in thought as he wiggled his pale toes and picked at a string that hung from a hole just beneath his right knee.

He shifted his body so that he was leaning against the wall and his head rested on the wall just above his left shoulder. His usually bright eyes were now glazed over and dull as he stared past the arm that draped across his knee. The rest of his arm was left suspended mid-air and immoble with a slip of paper that hung from his loose fingers. Even though he was awake and moving, there was that strange disoriented feeling that he was walking while he was also sitting. Just like he was seeing the gray stoned facility just as much as he was seeing the faded gold city, from which he could then see the dark clouds that swarmed overhead in a storm just waiting to strike.

His knuckles stood out in a strain of pink and white as they tightened to the point that they shook. The paper started to rip from how hard he held it, though there was no need of it anymore. He had read it too many times to forget what it said, he could almost say that he had memorized the scrawl of purple-inked Alternian letters long before he had even realized that the ink wasn't even black. The anxiety was building up inside of him and for the first time in his life there was a part of John that could admit just how terrified he truly was

He couldn't do this, he just couldn't.

"Psst!" The sound startled him, reminding him for a second of the girl who had sounded almost exactly the same before she had gone and lost her mind - if she had ever had it in the first place. He shook his head with a scowl at his stupidity. He wasn't crazy enough to hear voices though, John was sure, so he turned his head right and left to check down the halls. He had spent a long enough time moping around for the cleaning to be finished without him and the guilt struck at him for bailing.

"Hey! Psst! You!" The voice was slightly louder this time, sounding desperate before it broke off into a rage of muffled curses and cuss words. There was no way he was imagining something so realistically sound as that. He jumped to his feet and began to jerk his head so fast to look around the halls that it made him dizzy and go cross-eyed. Nothing but gray stone, tinted black windows, and dying lanterns.

"He looks stupid!" Came another voice, sounding deeper and angrier than what John had heard it sound like before. It made him pause in his search and consider the situation he was currently in; any other slave would have ran straight to a commanding Troll and told him what they were hearing. Of course, John was anything but an ordinary slave so this was only just occuring to him now.

He bit his lip as he furrowed his eyebrows and hunched in on himself in an attempt to make himself look smaller. The hall was silent without anyone close by him and it made him anxious. There were slaves at the futher end of the hall that could be reached if he managed to run before it was too late. There was always the chance of not being fast enough as well. If he acted before he ran into trouble then maybe he could succeed in getting out alive.

The thought had barely crossed his mind before his feet were turning and moving forward in a run down the hall. The slaves ahead of him were just tiny specks of black in the distance and John knew they wouldn't be able to see anything if he cried for help. There was a reason why wandering the hallways without company was dangerous. That was why they had groups for when they did the chores. They didn't do it to help each other but to use each other. Since John was no longer one of them, there was no need for his company anymore. His bad luck was on a roll today now wasn't it!

A hand clenched around his calf before he had even managed to cross any real distance, causing him to trip and fall to the floor with a loud cry of pain. His head throbbed from where it had struck the floor and left him feeling weightless and sick. By the time he came back to awareness, a firm hand was already over his mouth and a heavy weight was on his back crushing him. There was a stillness as they both laid there watching the specks in the distance merge with the darkness as they left.

"Damn that was close!" The voice sounded from up high, as if whoever it happened to be was somewhere up in the vents. Vents that were placed in the ceiling - it made John want to smack himself at how obvious it all should have been. The vents were one method of escape that some unfortunate slaves had been stupid enough to take a chance with; it was more of a trick by smarter Trolls to capture rebelling slaves.

There was hot breathe against his ear and then a deep voice sounded in reply, "Shut the fuck up before you get us caught! What the fuck were you even thinking when you tried to get this slave's attention!?" There was no doubt that they were Trolls; it had been obvious from the voices that spoke perfect Alternian and from the rough skin of a hand that remained firm over his mouth.

"Sorry, I seriously thought he would help. He seemed like the type to me since he was alone and so small." The Troll in the ceiling had a strange sound to his speech, as if his tongue were too large for his mouth. There was a grunt in reply as the Troll above him dragged them both into a standing position. John felt uncomfortable and awkward as he found himself too short to touch the floor while being held captive in the Troll's arms. The constant shifts made it obvious that the Troll was aware of his short stature.

"Ugh! Do you know how much I can't stand your fuckng lisp!? You only talked to him because he's small and you think that's 'cute', you liar!" John grunted as he was suddenly lifted high up to the ceiling, staring at the red and blue lensed goggles that were hovering from a hole in the ceiling. The Troll looked a bit strange with his eyebrows shot straight up to the hairline and a quirk to the mouth from his apparent confusion.

"Well?" The Troll who was dangling him high in the air shook him roughly, as though he were trying to get his partner to understand what ever idea was going through his head. John had only a monent to think that their line of communication was terrible before his thought was interrupted by the realization that his mouth was uncovered. He knew he could scream for these intruders to be caught before he died, but he found himself unable to.

"Hey, you aren't going to scream are you?" The Troll with the lisp was staring at him with a serious and almost closed-off expression now. Hanging in the air by a pair of hands on his sides, John was suddenly struck by how human it looked. He had never been faced with such an open-expression on any Troll before. Seeing it on a Human had been rare enough. Stunned, John could only shake his head slowly in answer to the Troll's question.

The grin he received was a bit scary, John could only stare at the twin pair of incisors he revealed as well as the two horns on either side of his head. It almost seemed as though he were happy, much like a Human would be. It was an amazing sight since he was so sheltered from the world outside. The world inside the walls were cruel and John expected the same from the outside world.

"See? What did I tell you? Here, hand him to me." The four-horned Troll moved for some support in order to lean down. John shrunk back immediately in horror at what they were doing. There was no way they were taking him away from this Facility, they would be found and killed once he was discovered missing.

"Woah! Wait a minute!" His outburst startled them both, one by the comical stunned expression on the four-horned Troll and the other by the hands that faltered their hold on him slightly in shock. He kicked his feet lightly as he snapped out, "Put me down, you jerks! Seriously, you can't take me! Bad idea, bad idea, bad idea!"

He was shaken furiously with a yelled, "Shut the fuck up! You're too loud! Sollux, take this stupid Human before he gets us all fucking caught!" The Troll up in the ceiling, now known as Sollux, only chuckled before he leaned down quickly and snatched him up by the arms. There was a brief yank that managed to throw John high up in the air, before he found himself once again captured in a tight hold.

It was dark up in the ceiling vents, the only light coming from the hole that had been stripped of it's barred window. John was stunned as he sat rigid in the lap of a Troll, unable to resist or think beyond his panic. He barely managed a squeak when he saw the gray hand with sharp nails reach in and grip onto the floor of the vent. His eyes could only widen and his mouth open soundlessly when the head of the Troll peaked in to look at him with amusement.

"Oh, now you're quiet." His voice was lowered but not in the least bit softer. John doubted their deep voices could manage to sound any less intimidating no matter how hard they tried. Red eyes watched as he trembled and fidgeted, which only seemed to amuse him even more.

"Karkat, stop teasing the poor little Human." A face pressed close to his as Sollux leaned forward with a grin of sharp teeth. "You're scaring the poor thing! Look at him! He's all shaking in my lap like a little Wiggler!" That lisp of his was even more noticable as he tried to sound out his "s'es", making it a bit of an effort on John's part to hear and think through on what he said.

A grunt was expected and came just as soon, "Careful, Sollux. Don't get attached to the thing." Blue eyes turned away from the grimace that had appeared on Sollux's face to look once more into the other Troll's dark face. There was no trace of welcoming on his features as he glared down at him from his seating position on the edge of the hole. He was currently in the process of lifting himself up and in apparently.

Blunt teeth nibbled on his torn lips in a habit of nervousness, only just noticing that they were dry and flaky from the blood that had long since dried. John wasn't the first to notice the state of his lips as he found the burning gaze narrowing in on the cut. There was something strange in the expression, John noted. It seemed as if there was longing, confusion, and disgust all wrapped into one. It made his face appear tired, bringing forth the dark shadows underneath his eyes.

There was a tense silence between the three of them. Locked gazes that seemed to wage a silent battle of wills waged on above John's head as he just huddled in on himself and tried to get his mind to catch up on the situation. He felt his energy being drained by every second that went by. This day had been filled with more excitement than he had ever had in his entire short life.

His emotions were fried and it left his whole form to wilt in the arms of the strange Troll named Sollux. The arms were tight around him, though they seem strained as they shook. It almost seemed as though he were restraining himself from crushing him with his strength. Firm but gentle, as if treating him like a breakable doll that would shatter if handled improperly.

"Hey, Human." There was gentle murmer, not as deep and it contained a lisp that meant Sollux was the one speaking. John wasn't sure if he were comfortable with the idea that he was becoming familiar with these Trolls. They were strange and they acted suspicious. That and they were Trolls!

Even with the memories of his life filled with Trolls and the knowledge that he was betraying himself by even speaking to one. Even with the meaning of what would come if he were to treat them any less than murderous, abusive Trolls. His eyes were already looking up into goggles and his mouth was already opening with words on his tongue.

Unlike last time, he felt no trace of that familiar fear. Only familiar warmth was running through him as he gazed upon the four horns, the double-edged teeth, and the sparks being formed around him. There was a buzzing in his ears and it made the air around him vibrate, carassing his skin and making his hair stand on edge.

_"John..." _

His grip tightened over the soft and thick-clothed robe just as his eyes caught glimpse of a blurry form in his mind. The whisper from grinning lips was being sounded in his ears, calling out to him and telling him to do something. A hand was gripping the side of his face as the once-golden city around him laid gray and dead.

The voice was speaking once more, different from the ones before it. "_So your name is John, right?_ _Sollux and Karkat are with you too from what I can see._" Everything was fuzzy as he found himself lifting his head and looking over the Trolls before him. There was wave of what felt to be relief and cold-amusement from something in the back of his mind.

It was so confusing, but being around Trolls didn't make John ignorant to the fact that _a Troll was in his head! _It made him panic, his mind swirling and finding himself lost in the confusion of being split into three places at once. He was in his head motionless, he was in control of his body, he was in the now-dead city of his dreams. He was pushing at a wall in his head before he could figure out how he was doing it.

"_STOP IT, YOU MORON! WE'RE LOOKING FOR SOMEONE AND YOU ARE GOING TO HELP!_" Invisible hands were tight around his shoulders and shaking him. It wasn't until he saw a clear face and felt an empty void in his mind and body that John realized that the hands were actually real.

There was a roll of red eyes from the one named Karkat, his black shaggy hair that looked to be needing washed was lying limp over his eyes that gave him a maddened appearance. Sollux, on the other hand, looked like he could commit murder without feeling a bit of remorse. That was a typical Troll though, so John couldn't really describe how terrifying he looked. Almost in league with the Highbloods, who he had only caught glimpse of a few times before, could almost work as a proper comparison.

"Sollux, calm the fuck down! She's gone, alright!? Just keep focused, dammit! And stop before you crush that stupid pet of yours!" Indeed, John was suffocating from the tight grip that slowly and steadly crushed his lungs and brought black spots popping up everywhere. His limbs felt as though they were sleeping from the way they tingled and throbbed with sharp pinpricks upon his skin.

"Shit! Sorry!" He was being picked up, swung around, and looked over before he had even managed to catch a proper breath. John put up with his face behind turned this way and that as he struggled and gasped for as much air he could possibly get.

"You feel all right? I didn't break any ribs from what I can feel. Might be bruises though." Sollux was rushed as he spoke, his lisp becoming even more pronounced in his panic and making his speech almost incoherent to the poor Human.

There was a shuffle behind him as Karkat stood in the small space of the vent, having to lean over in a hunched position from how tall he was. John could only barely see what he was doing since Sollux insisted on checking him over and over like a Mother would. At least, John thought that was how a Mother acted from what he knew of them. He didn't even know Trolls could act like this, not even their Mothergrub.

However, the word immediately left his mind as hands groped in a spot that he was definitely not okay with. It made him lash out at the hand that was placed over his crotch, leaving a loud smack of skin on skin to echo throughout the vent and the dark passages from either side of them. It startled all of them into another stunned silence. John stood tall, but still short with his head not even reaching the ceiling, over Sollux who sat looking up at him with horror.

John merely glared at him as he snapped, "Don't touch me there, you perverted stupid Troll! Why the hell you think you can touch me there is beyond me! I'm fine! I don't need your Troll hands all over me making sure I'm okay!"

He took a deep breath behind clenched teeth, hands fisted at his side as he swung them back in his anger. "I'm used to you Trolls treating me like garbage! I don't know who you and that other asshole Troll over there are, but I can tell you right now that you sure aren't Trolls that belong here! You're up to something! Trolls don't go around being nice to Slaves, especially Humans! So before I really lose it, tell me what you want already dammit!"

He breathed heavily with a pause, but his rant wasn't even close to being done. Sollux was fidgeting, his eyes snapping from the hole in the vent to the other Troll who stood behind him and back to the raging Human Slave. Whatever they had been expecting from the Human had obviously not been something like this. Then again, John was normally shy and easily intimidated so this was out of character even for him.

His emotions were like a rock in his throat and his body felt so exhausted. He could have gone on with his rant for as long as he could before he passed out, however he soon found himself being interrupted by the Troll behind him. There was a soundless warning of danger that seemed to claw at John's insides and drive his instincts into a need to run away, though it only managed to leave him frozen in place from the threat and fear if he were to even attempt.

His mouth was dry as he finally lost his voice. He was behing pulled back, away from Sollux who was lifting himself up off the floor and hunching over to avoid hitting the ceiling. From what John could see, he wasn't as tall as Karkat - but that didn't make him any less dangerous. The shadows seemed to play with his face, the dim light from the hole making his red and blue lensed goggles gleam menacingly. He couldn't believe he had spoken like that to the Trolls. He was horrified at himself, years of teachings making him aware of the punishment for such an act.

A firm hand guided him into a turn, only darkness in his sight as he scrunched up his face and kept his eyes closed. A rough finger with the point of a sharp nail gently tapped his face making him jump. A deep growl rumbled from Karkat's chest as John felt hot air being blown on his cheek and then on his ear. The words that were spoken to him was not what he had been expecting. Neither was the flush on his cheeks and the heat in his stomach that curled like a snake.

"Please help us." Teary blue eyes opened to look into the faded maroon-colored eyes. They seemed to blend with the black that surrounded the color and made John flush pink as he thought about it. His tongue flickered over his lips barely, every movement being watched closely from the burning gaze. Their faces were so close together, enough for John to see the conflicted swarm of emotions in the other's eyes. But they were also desperate.

His head had only barely nodded when he saw and felt the relief in Karkat's body and chest as he relaxed and released the breath he had been holding onto his face. Karkat's face fell closer to his and he appeared calmer and even more determined with whatever mission he was on.

"We're looking for someone." Was what he said.

"A girl with black hair. Her eyes are green."

_"John!"_

"She's here and waiting for us."

_"WAKE UP, JOHN!"_

John knew who they were talking about, he had seen her just a little while ago. She had defended him against that girl who had finally fell to a death that had been long over-due. There was a brief tug in his mind, his very soul that was telling him that this wasn't a coincidence. That there was something more going on. How that bully had gotten that receipt, how he had met that familiar green-eyed girl, how that same bully had died immediately after presenting it to him, and how he had been left alive and unharmed by the Troll Guards. Something more was going on.

There was a feeling deep down inside of him that felt as if this was what he had been waiting for his whole life. He had been waiting to meet these strangers that gave him such a strange feeling of familiarity. He had been waiting to meet them so that they could finally begin their adventure.

_"...John."_

He gathered as much of the determination and courage he could before he looked deep into the eyes that bore into his. A hand was brought up that was soon met by a gray hand filled with sharp nails; they shook in an unspoken oath of trust and alliance as their eyes stared only at each other.

John was grinning before he could stop himself, "I just might know where she is."

All three of them grinned at each other.

* * *

Far and distant from the three that had just formed an alliance, there was a room that stood dark and silent. There was nothing but the shadows and the flickers of light near the distant wall to fill it, making it all the more ominous and frightening. The light was too far to reach the form that towered even as it sat in the throne that was at the center of the large room. What it did catch was the manic grin and the walls and floor that shone with the puddles, smears, and liquid tears of the many colors of the rainbow.

A row of jagged sharp teeth glistened as they bared into a feral grin of delight, just as deep purple eyes narrowed and glowed eerily from the darkness with a sort of crazed and fond look to them. The silence was broken from the short and deep laughter that rang throughout the room, before it became a deep growl and a dark voice that spoke.

"HONK. Motherfuckers."

* * *

A/N: FINALLY! I'M SO SORRY THIS TOOK SO LONG TO COMPLETE! :'c Life has been really difficult. Going through some stuff at home... Eh... But I finally found time to update this! And as promised to a requester, the One-Shot to a GamTav will be posted soon! I PROMISED AND I KEEP MY PROMISES DAMMIT, LOL XD So be expecting that :3

Also, about the "I Hate You More" story. It is being revised because, after some comments left and considering them all, I find that it would be best if I fixed it up. Karkat is so OOC, it's not even passable to be in a FanFic. I don't mind admitting to my failure, I'll just try again Cx


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